African Killer Bees Found In Monterey County

African Killer Bees Found In Monterey County:

"A hive of an aggressive strain of honeybees was recently discovered by a beekeeper in Prunedale, according to the Monterey County agricultural commissioner's office.

The beekeeper quickly reported the find and experts from the California Department of Food and Agriculture were able to confirm that the bees were Africanized honeybees.

The danger from the hive was eliminated when the queen bee and her eggs were removed, agricultural officials said.

The bees were determined to have come from a wild colony that had been relocated to Prunedale from an area near Hollister.

Africanized honeybees are similar to other types of honeybees, but are more defensive in protecting the hive, guard a larger area around the hive, and swarm more quickly and in greater numbers if provoked, according to the agricultural commissioner's office.

Assistant Agricultural Commissioner Bob Roach said, 'There is no need for the public to panic. This just serves as a reminder to all of us to be aware of honey bees and take precautions not to get stung.'

Roach said his department will survey the area to check for any more of the bees, but he did not expect any to be found because the beekeeper reported the hive so quickly."

States are on the ‘D’ for killer bees

States are on the ‘D’ for killer bees:

"Entomologists think the insects, present in the Southwest, will soon hit Kansas and Missouri.
By KEVIN MURPHY
The Kansas City Star

To catch killer bees that may migrate from Oklahoma, Glenn Salsbury, entomologist for the Kansas Department of Agriculture, has installed bee traps in several border counties.

LABETTE COUNTY, Kan. | - Traps are supposed to catch something, but entomologist Glenn Salsbury is glad when he finds his empty.

In an unusual form of border security, Salsbury has traps in every county along the Kansas-Oklahoma border to check for northward movement of Africanized honeybees — better known as “killer bees.”"

Killer Bees

Killer Bees:

"In the movie The Swarm, great clouds of angry bees attack entire cities and sting hundreds of people to death. This is pure fiction. It could never happen. But folklore like this has arisen within the last ten years regarding the Africanized sometimes called 'Killer Bee'.

The ancestors of the Africanized bee live throughout Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. African bees were accidentally introduced into the wild in South and North America during 1956. Brazilian scientists were attempting to create a new hybrid bee in the hopes of creating improved honey production. The Africanized bee escaped and began to dominate honey bee."

`Killer` bees found in Texas Panhandle

`Killer` bees found in Texas Panhandle:

"Africanized 'killer' bees have been found in two different counties in the Texas Panhandle, the Amarillo Globe-News reported.

The bees were discovered in Armstrong County on Jan. 30 and in Randall County on April 19, May 16 and June 1. This is the first year the bees have been found that far north, the newspaper said.

The positive identification of the bees prompted a warning to Panhandle residents from Dr. Carl Patrick, a Texas Cooperative Extension entomologist."

Firefighters learn how to handle killer bees

WEST PALM BEACH — The state-of-the-art rescue equipment for battling so-called killer bees: firefighting chemical foam and a beekeeper's suit, with its goofy pith helmet and mesh veil.

Best advice if you're caught in a bee attack without your suit? Run and keep running. Enraged killer bees will give chase for about three football fields. Run farther.

"If you disturb a colony of bees, make sure you're not the slowest person around," said bee expert Bill Kern, a University of Florida professor of entomology and nematology based in Fort Lauderdale.

Firefighters from at least 15 Palm Beach County cities took Kern's three-hour course Thursday in dealing with the latest apocalyptic scourge to threaten Florida: Africanized honeybees.

Africanized bees, though indistinguishable from the more docile European variety, are more aggressive, anger faster and attack in dozens instead of a handful.

They breed more often, though their colonies are smaller, spread faster in the wild and are not particular about where they set up camp: in a water meter box, in the rafters of a park pavilion, under a bench.

"They're about the only ones who like school portables," Kern said of the bees that nest beneath them.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/content/local_news/epaper/2006/07/07/s1c_KILLER_BEES_0707.html